more stuff... please excuse the lack of capital letters cuz my phone is lame.

cabinets without fillers at sides and unfinished tops and bottoms

soil in the yard with spilled stucco and concrete powder

closet openings not standard height because they forgot to allow for trim height.

is it customary to have owner pay for closet doors, shower glass, or closet organizers? they would install if I buy materials (above the silly $1200 shower glass allowance) but at this point I would rather use subcontractors.

perimeter walls not exactly the height it's supposed to be, though partly this is related to the actual ground not being even.

one piece of concrete where the AC condenser goes is cracked down the middle, probably has no rebar, but the rest have rebar and is fine.

which issues should I just let go?
should I just get a finish Carpenter and subcontractors to deal with the rest of the issues?
thanks....

"stairs not built to code, wrong height by 1" that needs to be fixed"

I'd rather have to fix all your other problems than that one.

Unfortunately Sindy it will come down to what you insist the builder fixes and how much push back he gives you. As Joseph stated the stairs are the most glaring and about impossible to "fix" without major work. The rest, it all depends. Not that it should matter but it does unfortunately but what type of house is this, custom or a tract/developers home where you purchase the and & house as a pkg deal when complete? As mentioned previously in other posts, no house will be perfect under any scenario, it just comes down to your willingness to push harder than your builder. What does you contract state? How much money do you still owe him?

stairs not built to code, wrong height by 1" that needs to be fixed

What is the measured height of the stairs, riser plus tread?

"Third-party inspector time. :-D"

Again without knowing the type of construction contract she has, and the wording this may or may not be a possibility.

I would pay as millworkman suggested to bring in your own independent inspector to make sure all is good and up to code.

The stairs should be pointed out to the city or town inspector if they're not up to code. In what way are they not?

Most of the stuff is what is called punch list items. You go around the house and make a list of all the things that are not to your satisfaction and ask them to fix it. Of course as MWM suggested a lot depends on the type of contract you have too.

Can you post pictures of the problems? Some may be actual issues but some may not be.

The stairs are an issue. If you are interpreting code correctly. I suspect that you may not be. 1” is huge. There’s no way that wouldn’t get a red tag.

Cabinet top and bottoms are standard to be the box color, usually a natural maple. No one ever sees them, so no one ever pays the upgrade charge to have everything match the exterior color. Often fillers are left until the last minute to cut. Not a big deal at all, as long as the proper gap for them is there.

About 90% of this is standard tract builder production quality. Not great, but not unexpectedly aberrant either. The more custom and the more $$$ the build, the less chance of encountering mediocre but not code deviant work. And they are not done with punching it out either.

Sounds like a rush with little attention to plumb and level. Evidence here is the door closing issues. As someone else said, document the punch list and don't back off. A third party inspector is a terrific option to make sure the punch list is complete.

I just wrote a lengthy response and it disappeared! AGHH!

Will post pics later.

2600SF build (1000 reno, 1600 new). $360000 on contract, 36k left to pay. Actual build will be more expensive due to upgrades, solar, landscaping/deck, electrical/gas upgrades, AC, architect, materials not included, garage redo.

Some parts were rushed a bit perhaps, but I would attribute most of this jankiness to lack of hiring subcontractors with highly sub-specialized skills, and lack of specificity in the building documents.

Stairs will not pass inspection. Wood stairs currently 7 3/4-7/7/8" rise x 11" tread. After 1" thick oak tread placed on top the rise of the first step will be 8 7/8". They have to rectify this somehow. Architect didn't shrink stairs to fit the space when the city told us the house had to be two feet less wide so it already sticks out into the hallway, I can't just add an extra step. Arghhh. I know I made error by not hiring a designer but I think this mistake goes way beyond that.

What is acceptable variance for walls and sidewalk straightness in a custom home, medium end job? If it's about 1" then maybe I will stop being so neurotic about it.

And also what is the rate of errors in doing plumbing/electrical, is it common for people to need to do random little fixes here and there? We did not have drawn out plans for these. Some of the pipes are not entirely plumb/level and some outlets don't work or are in weird places, I don't know if it's worth fixing these because they would have to cut through tile (don't know why they tiled the ENTIRE bathroom in every bathroom!).

Closet trim is 1" thick and will make the opening 1" shorter than standard. I will have to cut doors down or get more expensive custom fit option. Too late to do anything about it...

Plumbing will bug the crap out of me but will let it go as it is hidden under pull out drawers. Worst design ever, by cabinet design service. They botched measurements too.

Soil amendment will be done with landscaping. I think it's customary for builders to leave trash and limestone residues everywhere? That bugs me but if it's standard practice I will just suck it up.

The doors and pocket doors have to open and close perfectly. I think this is a reasonable request.

I think I understand about half of your concerns. You need to hire an inspector, not only to look out for your interest, but to explain to you what is and what isn't acceptable.

I'm trying to imagine what 'janky' plumbing looks like.

The final walk through in the house is the time to note all your concerns. The biggest problem I saw was the stairs. However, it depends on where the 1" problem is. If the rise on all steps is 5"---that is well within code. If there is a 1" difference in any one rise, that is a problem. That could be a severe enough problem to require a tear out and rebuild.

The door problem could be because of doors not square and plumb. Fixable.

The pocket door situation needs a picture, since trim is usually part of a pocket door installation.

Don;t understand the electrical/plumbing holes/plugs. Need pictures.

here are some photos...

- floating wall on right that isn't very straight, looks less obvious from distance. it was added on later because architect didn't add it in the first place, he thought it was a kitchen counter. but we actually wanted to partition the kitchen from the living room.

- sidewalk with a bit wavy borders

- stairs that stick out in front of wall by one step, first step will end up not meeting code after adding the oak tread so they'll have to reduce height by one inch on the first step and make subsequent steps a hair shorter until it evens out at the top. this will be a pain in the ass.

janky plumbing...

poor planning with holes through the cabinet to accommodate mistakes in the piping. there's tile behind the cabinet so they didn't want to saw into that. I know he'll try to patch the hole with stainless steel plate or something.

poor coordination on the part of cabinet designer and contractor.

cabinets drawers... the entire house cabinetry (medium size kitchen with island, entire hallway of closets, four smallish bathrooms) cost about $13000.

framing for closet doors make opening not standard size

unfinished cabinetry, not sure what's up with the fridge nook doesn't look finished nor built in...

pocket door issues
doesn't close but don't know what's wrong...

can see unfinished tops and bottoms
some panels missing from sides... not sure what they are waiting for.

half the doors have resistance to closing.
might be the hinges , or the top of the door hitting the door frame. not sure.

I think some of your concerns aren’t that big of a deal. Others would be concerning to me. The unfinished sides of vanities would be unacceptable. But I’m guessing the tops of the kitchen cabinets are usually unfinished and unseen after a trim piece is up. Same with the bottom of cabinets.
The plumbing inside of cabinets aren’t gonna be seen and hence not a big deal to me. Although, I’m unsure why they are some of those pipes showing at all. The concrete sidewalk being 1 inch off will become unnoticeable after landscaping. The stairs may be a huge issue, and I would have an inspector check on that.

Oh, and I would hate having that one step sticking out into the walkway it appears. I am klutzy and would trip on it constantly

The doors can be easily fixed and should be done prior to final payment

- floating wall on right that isn't very straight, looks less obvious from distance. it was added on later because architect didn't add it in the first place, he thought it was a kitchen counter. but we actually wanted to partition the kitchen from the living room.

So is that wall 24" thick? Anything inside of it, like storage, or is it basically a hollow block?

- sidewalk with a bit wavy borders

I think I see what you're talking about here, and I wouldn't insist on a re-do, because there is a very real possibility that the re-do will be more noticeable than the original. (The original isn't that bad at all! :-) )

cabinets drawers... the entire house cabinetry (medium size kitchen with island, entire hallway of closets, four smallish bathrooms) cost about $13000.

Just so I understand... Is the issue with the drawers that they are light-colored wood inside, instead of painted? (My maple cabs are stained a dark espresso, but the insides are unstained; only noticeable when the doors/cabs are open. I think this is pretty standard.)

framing for closet doors make opening not standard size

Is this causing problems finding doors that will fit? What is the specific reason for this concern?

unfinished cabinetry, not sure what's up with the fridge nook doesn't look finished nor built in...

This is probably just not done yet. :-)

can see unfinished tops and bottoms
some panels missing from sides... not sure what they are waiting for.

The "unfinished" tops and bottoms are, to my understanding, fairly standard practice. You could knock me over with a feather if I discovered anything on cabinets, besides door/drawer fronts, exposed side panels, crown, toe kicks, and spacer pieces, stained or painted. lol

I totally get it, though, because with the house I'm in now, I remember being a tad disappointed that I could see the underside of the cabinets and it was light colored. I had never had dark cabs before, and obviously never noticed it in family/friends' houses. I think this is probably one of those "just the way it is" things, and if you want it done differently, it will cost a lot more. If it continues to bother you after a few months of living with it, maybe look into hiring someone skilled to paint the underside and tops of the cabinets (with the understanding that the color match may not be perfect, but the visual contrast between the natural wood and finished surfaces will be greatly reduced).

Are the missing side panels next to something like a tub or shower? My builder forgot to tile the side of the vanity that sits next to the tub, but it was fixed no problem. :-) It looks like those side panels are in a bathroom and may just be waiting to be tiled?

13K? For cabinets? For a whole house??? That’s about half of what it should be for just the kitchen. And you have expectations of 113K worth of cabinets? From cheap imports? Not ever gonna happen. Not ever.

The sidewalk? Really??? The plumbing holes??

Sorry, but most of this is you. Not the builder.

The stairs is on the builder. The others “issues” are that you have no experience. And you need to stop watching the sausage get made. And you need to get your zillion dollar unrealistic expectations under control. Go have a spa day. And let the builder actually finish.

Just from the photos, aside from the obvious issue with the stairs, my biggest concern would be with the doors and the half wall. The doors can be fixed through shimming. We can't see what you mean by the wall not being straight, but there isn't an excuse for it not to be. As I said before, it seems not much attention to level and plumb was paid, and maybe they didn't square the frame for the half wall. That would drive me crazy, since it would be so visible.

The walkway actually looks very nice in the photo. Like others have said, if you are planting grass, you will not notice anything after it grows in.

Usually the plywood tread is temporary and is removed before installing the oak tread. So your stairs might not be off that 1".

You are inspecting the process with a finished eye----and the process is in mid operation.

Ok, now I understand 'janky'. And agree it is a bit unprofessional, but it is fairly normal. That huge rectangular space on the back of one cabinet is normal for mid/low priced cabinets. I'd say there was no coordination between the cabinet maker and the contractor, since any coordination should have been between the architect and cabinet maker---which is rare in a medium range home. Have seen much worse.

Looks like the pocket door has not been adjusted, and there is still trim to be installed on the top---which cannot be installed until the adjustment. The rest of the door closing problems may be from unsquare frames---fixable and should be fixed before painting.

If the stairs are wrong, that is a major issue. Concentrate on getting that rectified. The rest are actually not concerns until the finish, and those that are still not finished are the reason for the final walkthrough.

Unless the builder made a layout mistake, unless you chose to have a wall moved in the framing stage, unless the step is shown to protrude past the wall in the plans that you approved, that protruding step is entirely on the architect.

With less than full height walls, the walls cannot be pinned to ceiling joists. There is nothing to restrict movement at the top of the wall so it is free to wriggle around pretty much as it pleases. Consequence of the design.

The closet opening looks to be the same height opening as the adjacent pocket door. How does that translate into being 'not standard'? Are you confusing RO (rough opening) with the finished opening sizes?

The cabinet 'finish' is standard and to be expected. Drawers look like wood grain melamine coated particle board/ mdf backs and bottoms. Did you expect white interiors? (Toast crumbs, etc., tend to disappear on wood grain.).

Tops & bottoms of the wall cabinet boxes are never (or almost never) finished to match the fronts. Except in open loft installs, those parts are never seen. Factory cabinets/ interchangeable components. Grey, white, purple, cherry, oak--they all get the same shelves/ interiors/ etc. in identical finish.

Buy a 6' level and check all of the door jambs for plumb. You may discover that most all of the issues are a matter of adjustments not yet performed. Complaint that doors without latches 'bounce open'. Of course they do; that's why latches are installed.

perimeter walls not exactly the height it's supposed to be, though partly this is related to the actual ground not being even.

Since you already explained it to yourself---add dirt/ take away dirt--why is it even on the complaint list?

The sidewalk is a total non issue.

It all looks totally normal for a cheap basic builder, if that's what you have.

Can you describe exactly what the stair issue is?

ok thanks for the perspectives everyone...

I'm just trying to figure out what would be reasonable to place on the complaint list and what's expected imperfection. sounds like just the doors and stairs need work. and finish the cabinetry trim (I'll also pay somebody extra to finish bottoms and top... the "cheap" cabinets were recommended by the builder and seem to be good quality despite being cheap but the company sure did a crappy job designing and measuring... there's not a big concern with them other than they aren't dove tailed and have some sort of screw in frame, which is fine).

I do very detailed visual work for a living so everything millimetres off jumps out at me, I realize that a lot of this may be attributed to myself and I would be happy to adjust my expectations accordingly so I can be done.

agree that stairs and free wall issue comes from the architect phase... not much I can do about that now.

I'm going to start another two Reno project soon so this is helpful to know who I would hire again (builder, but this time with a designer for everything, or a build/design firm) and who I wouldn't (cabinet designer, though I might use the cabinet supplier because they have cheap and durable product) thanks again.

with the dirt, I'm just wondering if it is customary for Builders to Simply contaminate the area rather than trying to keep the material off the soil. I would rather not pay for soil admendment and next time I'm going to request that they do not contaminate if they can help it. hopefully that's a reasonable request?

the stairs issue is described in a previous post.... the skeleton of the stairs is built to meet code but once they add the tread on top the first step will exceed the height. they can't simply add more steps to reduce a rise because the step is already sticking out into the hallway.

When the house is finished, that is when you go in and make sure all works. NOT when it's only half finished and right now it's only half finished. Like Sophie said, go have a spa day and stop looking at every detail at this point.

problem with the closet door is that if the finished opening cannot accommodate typical sizes then I'll have to get custom closets for thousands instead of hundreds. and I can't cut down mirrored doors.

but otherwise the trim is fine. next time I'll pay special attention.

I have a feeling that when the stairs are trimmed out the measurements will work out. Have you asked your builder about it? It's probably fine.

And c'mon, contaminate the dirt? It's dirt. Won't it either be getting mulch or sod on top of it?

Numbers matter. What is the finished height of the closet opening?

What its the height of the stair step in question?

This house isn't even at the punch list phase. Analyzing work with a finished eye on an incomplete job is a useless waste of everyone's time. The majority of your list is fixable or non-issue. The stairs should be your biggest focus. The concrete is you wanting perfection in a non perfect world. Even in lower cost to build regions, $13k total for cabinets and expecting a matching finished interior, NEVER going to happen. Try 5x that cabinet budget on one of our current builds only gets solid wood fronts & sides, dove tail drawers, and some other whistles/bells like soft close, etc, but NOT matching finished interiors. Take a step back, let this job move further along in the chaos, and meet with the builder during punch list phase to get a real list of fixes.

I'd like to answer your question in a more general way.

There are different standards for the quality of fit and finish depending on whether the project is new residential construction or remodeling (where lots of defects are already baked in.) Yours is a hybrid.

There are also different standards depending on the type of product. It's not reasonable for the buyer of an entry-level townhome to expect the same quality of fit and finish as the buyer of a multi-million dollar custom home.

For new construction, I'd recommend reference in your construction contract to the most current edition of "Residential Construction Performance Guidelines For Professional Builders and Remodelers" which is available from the National Association of Home Builders. It's not perfect, but it's an objective standard that defines defects, acceptable tolerances, and prescribes the action the builder or remodeler will take when the quality of work doesn't meet the standard.

I'm nearing the end of my construction and now a lot of imperfections that weren't apparent to me in the beginning are starting to rear their ugly heads. for example:
No, you are not near the end. Most of your list gets fixed during the weeks until closing.
walls not perfectly straight, variance of 1 inch

Non issue.

concrete walkway not perfectly straight because the wood forms were old and a bit wavy, maybe a variance of less than half inch

I have an eagle eye and am a perfectionist. This is honestly you being ridiculous. It's fine.

plumbing and electrical errors and fixes, leaving wall and ceiling patches, and holes in the back of cabinets which then have to be patched with stainless steel caps

Normal in a production build. Pay a million more and you may get perfection. Although I doubt it. Ask me how I know.

scuffed edges of walls

Will be fixed when workers are out and painters come in to do last touch ups.

plumbing under cabinet a bit janky in appearance, but I guess nobody is really looking there

Exactly.

hairline cracked stucco base on the perimeter wall that was then patched and will have acrylic stucco applied

Cracks in stucco happen. It's not a question of if, but when.

stairs not built to code, wrong height by 1" that needs to be fixed

Stairs will not pass inspection. Wood stairs currently 7 3/4-7/7/8" rise x 11" tread. After 1" thick oak tread placed on top the rise of the first step will be 8 7/8".

That's a code violation. It needs to be fixed. This is your only issue that I see.

half the doors, unpainted, need to be pulled hard to close. without latch they will bounce open.

You really need to chill and wait until the house is ready for you to take possession.

pocket door with gap at top of 2cm. which they said can be hidden by trim and made flush with extra piece of wood that matches the angle of the door.... I don't think that's acceptable.

You are probably the only one who won't think it acceptable. This is how door frames are done.

what's a reasonable expectation? I hate when things look janky but I just want to be done with this.

A reasonable expectation is that your expectations for perfection are unreal. Even if this was a million dollar build.

cabinets without fillers at sides and unfinished tops and bottoms

No one sees tops and bottoms. Unless you mean that the top will not get a crown molding. As for fillers, maybe they're not finished? It sure looks like they're not.

soil in the yard with spilled stucco and concrete powder

You're joking, right? You are in a construction zone.

closet openings not standard height because they forgot to allow for trim height.

What is the height? They look right to me.

is it customary to have owner pay for closet doors, shower glass, or closet organizers? they would install if I buy materials (above the silly $1200 shower glass allowance) but at this point I would rather use subcontractors.

Yes if it's over your allowance and over what the standard for your build is.

perimeter walls not exactly the height it's supposed to be, though partly this is related to the actual ground not being even.

Which perimeter walls? Interior or exterior and how much are they off?

one piece of concrete where the AC condenser goes is cracked down the middle, probably has no rebar, but the rest have rebar and is fine.

Ask your inspector.

The closet openings are all 79" tall and standard doors are 80". I suppose I can cut them down but what if I want a fully mirrored closet door? I can't cut a mirror.

Exterior perimeter wall is off by 2" when measuring from sidewalk. Oh well. I can't tell since it looks okay from the inside.

Cabinets: I actually do NOT expect matching cabinet interiors (the wood actually matches flooring anyway), just to have a finished look on the tops, bottoms, and sides. I bought expensive cabinet depth appliances and I expect to have these appliances look built-in otherwise I would have bought appliances at a tenth of the price. It is not getting any crown molding because it is a european gloss cabinet and it is mounted halfway on a 12 foot ceiling -- any molding will never even remotely approach the ceiling. From the loft you can see the unfinished wood tops of the cabinets. And from the first floor you can see the bottom of the loft bar cabinets. Problematic design in general.

Stairs: Inspector does not care about any of the above except the stairs. We will see how they fix it. Feels like they redid a lot of things twice but maybe this is the nature of what happens when you don't have a designer.

One Dame: Thanks for sharing your experience! To answer your question, the back of that floating wall houses the cabinet-depth refrigerator and a short segment of counter/cabinets. It does look less crooked now that the counter has been installed. And the sides of the cabinets that are not finished are next to shower or toilet areas. They might need to be covered with melamine if it fits, or stainless steel sheet if the melamine is too thick. Tiling them is an option as well but might be too thick in some areas.

Soil: I guess most construction just leave buried debris, chemicals, and old structures like swimming pools. The typical homeowner will never be the wiser.

If you had wanted cabinets that had finished tops and bottoms then you would have needed to spend over 4x that amount for fully custom cabinets where you could have specified exactly what you wanted. Or gone with an Amish cabinet maker but even there the kitchen alone would have cost almost double what you paid for all your cabinets.

I agree the sides should have side panels but that needs to be specified when ordering

I apologize because somehow I missed your posting that had more info on the stairs. (Too much stuff going on around my house!)

Stairs will not pass inspection. Wood stairs currently 7 3/4-7/7/8" rise x 11" tread. After 1" thick oak tread placed on top the rise of the first step will be 8 7/8". They have to rectify this somehow. Architect didn't shrink stairs to fit the space when the city told us the house had to be two feet less wide so it already sticks out into the hallway,

Ah, so the layout changed from the original plans. That explains the jutting stair where we can see 1' of the shrinkage. The architect could not 'shrink' the stairs without a corresponding shrinkage in height. The only way to reduce the total run length of stairs would have been to lower the ceiling height.

After looking around a bit, I've learned that there is some variance in local codes per stairs. What matters is your local code for residences. For example: Wisconsin code: . Except for spiral staircases under subd. 2., risers may not exceed 8 inches in height measured vertically from tread to tread.

As someone posted above, the current treads are temporary (construction) treads and will be removed before installing the hardwood treads. So, with removal of the temporary tread & installation of the hardwood treads, your stairs would meet code in Wisconsin. Also, chances are that your treads will be 3/4" thick with a built up nosing to give the appearance of a 1" thick tread. (The nosing sits in front of the riser.). IOW's if the temp treads are 3/4", odds are that your finished stair rise will be exactly the same as it is now.

Closet trim is 1" thick and will make the opening 1" shorter than standard. I will have to cut doors down or get more expensive custom fit option.

'Closet trim', i.e., the casing has zero to do with the jamb height. The jamb height is what determines the door height.

What is the jamb height of your closets? Measure from the finished floor to the top of the opening, inside the finished frame. Keep in mind that most doors are trimmable to accommodate later changes in flooring. For instance, someone removes sheet vinyl and installs thick tile floors or carpet & pad. The doors then have to be trimmed because the height of the opening changed. Sawing 1" off the bottom of a door is a non-event and is done every day of the week.

Even mirrored closet doors are adaptable to small (1" or less) height changes. A random pick from Home Depots web site states: Slider height is adjustable from 79-1/2 in. x 80-1/2 in. for 80 in. tall doors

Arg....I keep missing the added info. Shop around....really cheap mirrored closet door from Lowe's:

ReliaBilt Mirror Steel Sliding Closet Interior Door with Hardware (Common: 48-in x 80-in; Actual: 48-in x 78-in)

You’re basically manufacturing drama out of 95% non issues. Did you violate the First Rule of Building and not keep the wine close at hand? The Xanax?

Money cures everything. In a more expensive build, you’d still have 80% of these “issues”. But any build with the super low budget options that you have, actually usually has more real construction based issues. You’re not doing too badly here, at this stage.

If you don’t chill out, any legitimate warranty work that you might have during that first year is not gonna get any attention. You’re using up all of your PIA capital right now, and you’re not even close to being done.

Maybe next time you should buy an existing house.

That closet door height sounds right for bifold doors. I believe that bifolds are 78 1/2 tall so 79 inch space would be correct. I am not an expert but I think you are getting unproductively close to some of these details. Stairs are a serious concern and you will have plenty of others concerned about them also, especially the contractor because he won't be able to collect all his money until the issue is resolved.

"I believe that bifolds are 78 1/2 tall so 79 inch space would be correct."

As long as you are attaching directly to the drywall/header and not using a jamb that would correct.

ok thanks guys for the closet door info.... if sliding doesn't work out I might have to go there bifold route or just pay for custom.

Sophie.... why would I need wine or Xanax when I've got you guys to give me a reality check? Seriously, I get it. I'm being neurotic about some stuff. I've not posted some of the other big issues here however, like electricals not working, kitchen pendants not centered over the island, kitchen sink not centered with window (per design, can't fix this now), having to tear out walls to redo the plumbing because they were disorganized and used the wrong pieces, motorized skylights not working, a wall so crooked they had cut the wall open to install counters. If I relaxed at all they would probably not even notice these. But these are getting resolved or I'm just accepting them because I'm tired. If these happen again when I have a designer and detailed plans, I will have to look for a different builder. Right now he's trustworthy and turns out good quality but obviously he's not a designer.

The existing homes here can be so atrocious. Lots of nonsensical unpermitted work, termite damage inspectors cannot see, and bad layout in the older renovated homes. Plumbing and gas leaks even in new homes. Beautiful new interior and exterior wood materials that degrade within 6 months probably due to improper drainage and sun exposure. There's no way to guarantee quality unless you see what they use inside the walls. I think this will not be a risk I would take unless I'm just flipping a home... which I'm not.